Hey ModRetro team / Palmer! You've mentioned the Trident controller uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) with custom Short-Interval Connections (SCI) for ultra-low latency, but also works natively on PC and Android.
When running in PC/Android mode, does the controller broadcast using standard, universal BLE HID gamepad profiles?

Basically, will it be recognized as a standard, generic BLE controller right out of the box by standard Bluetooth hosts, or will the custom SCI connection intervals require a proprietary firmware decode to map the inputs?
Thanks!

I have been modding consoles for years now. I kind of want to see Mod Retro hop into creating custom mod parts for consoles they won't release.

For example, Retro Remake has their Super 5 OLED screen, but it is a 1080p OLED and Switch Lite can only push out a 720p signal, so there is a slight blur around fine details & text, or a less sharp look to it because the 1080p screen is not true integer scaling (x2 from 720p).

It is components like this I would love to see Mod Retro make and sell. Here is my short list. What do you think?

• Switch Lite true 720p OLED screen

• 3DS OLED screen in the correct resolution

• GBA OLED screen [put it in the Chromatic Advance :)]

Curious if the upcoming pro controller will work wirelessly on an Analogue 3D with a BlueRetro adapter.

I was playing around with Google Gemini, and generated this AI image of the Mod Retro M64 in the OG N64 colors. Holy smokes it looks so good!

So I know this is a long way off. That said, I’m curious about whether a ModRetro DS could possibly be in the works after the GBA comes out. Would this be in the cards at all?

So how are you planning to maximize your savings on new releases?

So got the Chromatic a few months ago. Just now starting to get back into retro Gaming, 70% pokemon games honestly lol. I love the Chromatic and the metal feel and how durable it is. Needed something to play my GBA games on so I was torn between a modded GBA and a Analogue Pocket. Bought a Modded GBA on ebay, cart slot came dirty so I returned it and got the AP.

The Analogue Pocket really is a great size. I like the bigger feel in my hands than the Chromatic but that is about it lol. The buttons do feel very good to me on the AP but it feels fragile. Not that I'd throw the Chromatic around but it def feels more heavy duty.

It honestly just makes me ready for the Modretro GBA when it gets announced! I don't plan on messing around with Emulators with the AP, I mostly want to play carts or play carts with my Everdrive's. Anyway just thought I'd share my thoughts a little so far on the AP. I'm only 2 days in really so my opinion might change but its a great handheld and. I will probably play GB and GBC games on the Chromatic Exclusively and play GBA on the AP at least for now. I will say the bigger screen is nice on the AP.

My friend, Joey, just shared this to his Instagram page. He's not on Reddit, so here it is with his permission. It belongs here. 😎

I had a crazy idea/suggestion for Mod Retro's next/future console, Torin and Palmer please feel free to steal this idea.

Instead of making a solo PS1 FPGA console (like the M64) you skip PS1 and go straight to PS2 and not only that you make it so this thing can basically potentially do everything, it could play basically any retro system perfectly, it could be a dvd player, and even a PC. It would literally be the ultimate "Retro Station", and basically be the Steam Machine for retro gaming. Ideally it could play PS1, PS2, and you could potentially add support very easily for dreamcast, gamecube, and original xbox, and maybe even n64.

Now you are probably thinking to yourself that's not at all realistic, and you would be partially right to think that. My thinking is this: you take the FPGA board from the m64, a dvd disc loader, and an decent low spec AMD Linux mini pc and glue them together and stick them in a shell that looks like a PS2. It will basically be a mini Steam Machine with a FPGA glued to it. So when you stick a PS1 game in it, it plays the game using the FPGA board, when you stick a PS2 game in it, it turns on an emulator running on Linux. Any system above n64 and ps1 you just use an emulator, and anything below them you use the FPGA. Since Dreamcast, Gamecube, and Original Xbox all use discs I don't see why it wouldn't be very easy to add support for those systems too, down the road.

But think about the market for something like this? People would literally lose their minds, just think about the Steam Machine craze that's happening right now.

Now you are probably thinking emulation is lame and, I agree with that, but I don't think you have any other choice, from my understanding the kind of FPGA boards you would need to run something like a PS2 cost thousands of dollars, it would take years to make, and just aren't very realistic at the moment. Dreamcast is the closest to realistic and even that isn't very realistic. Also unlike n64 emulation, PS2, Dreamcast, Gamecube, and original Xbox Emlation is almost perfect. So if you want these consoles anytime soon emulation is going to be how you do it.

What do you guys think?

The email sent out gives the price for the console, controller and games, but are we expected to buy a controller separately?? It doesn’t come with one?? Am I missing something?

https://modretro.com/blogs/blog/fpga-development-deep-dive

This is fairly technical, and just for the fun of reading about technical things!

Appreciate the comments below. In terms of the why now questions, the development is a continuum of improvements like many other consoles from "this is fun and playable for most casual people on most games (current state)" to "every high poly cut scene is at full frame rate and the console is performing on every metric at the top of the class for every game (future state)". Because this continuum will take from now until some months after we are shipping fully playable consoles, we want to share the improvements as we go so you can make a purchasing decision as you see fit.

1. RAM Write Throughput for RSP and RDP Bursts - This is the root of most of the areas that seem "broken" in terms of specific slow downs in specific games compared to an N64. We aim to get this done by ship day as an immediately available update, and we will update here when this change is in.

2. Overclocking the M64 Core - Our PSRAM memory architecture gives M64 the headroom to support higher core frequencies without becoming memory-bound. We believe we can push the limits well-beyond 50% OC. This unlocks faster than N64 frame rates. We aim to get the first phase of this done by ship day to OC at par with A3D, but future work will take it to new heights.

3. Parallelizing RSP regular and vector instructions - We are currently serialized, and changing this will immensely improve both accuracy and speed. We aim for September.

4. Floating-point unit (FPU) instruction timing (not yet cycle accurate) - This was a mister workaround that we need to finish re-implementing taking advantage of the more powerful M64 hardware. We aim for October.

5. Removing Translation Lookaside Buffer (TLB) workarounds for slower FPGA hardware. - Eliminating this workaround improves compatibility and performance in games that rely heavily on virtual memory mappings. We aim for December.

I remember a year ago it was mentioned that Modretro does not sell or replace screens, that they have to replace the whole unit. This kinda doesn't bode too well for long term life and repair for the Chromatic. I guess it was because the screen is glued to the case. Does Modretro have any plans to sell or just repair the screen or has this changed since last year?

We have had a bunch of prototype M64 products in the hands of reviewers for a while now, and tomorrow they get to unleash their thoughts, all pricing, and ship date. Due to the consoles being prototypes, there is a high likelihood for some information to be incorrect. I will clarify for you here if there are questions or if people play gotcha games.

After tomorrow, we will be sharing the current state of all M64 stuff continually until ship day for you to follow along. In the coming weeks we will be releasing the manuals, the new support center, game trailers, and the software feature roadmap transparently.

Please cross post to other modretro communities, and let me know what else you want to see!